Museum disqualifies image in wildlife photography contest

LONDON — Britain's Natural History Museum has disqualified a photograph from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition after concluding that the image of an anteater moving toward a termite mound at night involved at taxidermy specimen.

The photograph taken in Brazil's Emas National Park won the "Animals in their Environment" category in 2017.

The museum says it had been contacted by anonymous sources who questioned the image's authenticity. Experts compared the image to high-resolution pictures of a taxidermy anteater on display at one of the entrances to the Emas National Park and concluded the allegation was true.

Photographer Marcio Cabral strongly denies that the anteater in the image is a taxidermy specimen.

The museum decided the image broke the rules of the competition requiring entrants not to deceive the viewer.